"French By Heart"

French By Heart by Rebecca S. Ramsey

The authour and her family (husband, 9 yr. old daughter, 7 yr. old son, infant son, and cat) packed up and moved to France for four years when her husband accepted a transfer with his company. They started out in an apartment, then found a house where they could settle down and start their new lives as foreigners trying their best to fit in.

I loved hearing all the details of their daily lives as they adjusted to a new culture. Everything they had taken for granted in their previous lives became a challenge: buying groceries, getting cheques from a bank, enrolling the kids in school, getting acquainted with neighbours - it all becomes one daunting adventure after another. Some of it is funny, some endearing, but all of it is good story-telling. She held my interest from start to finish and left me wanting more at the end of every story.

Complicating the Ramsey's lives is Madame Mallet, a meddling older neighbour who has an opinion on everything the Ramseys do and who never passes up an opportunity to tell them what that opinion is. She's irritating, hard to put up with and drives them almost to distraction at times, but she couldn't be more perfect for this story if she had been especially created for the role. I hope this book gets made into a movie just so I can watch Madame Mallet in action. She is priceless!

If you like the "We-Moved-To-A-New-Country" genre of books, or if you're like me and will read just about anything set in France, you'll probably enjoy this. Add it to your tbr for one of those times you want something quick and not too serious. I hope it'll be as much fun for you as it was for me.